It is often desirable to transport cumbersome articles through the use of a vehicle. Furthermore, it is desirable to transport and easily dump large volumes of heavy particulate matter, such as dirt, loose gravel, and livestock feed. Such a vehicle may function as a trailer towed behind a motorized vehicle, be towed by a person, or be self-propelled.
There are many forms of vehicles that have been used for carrying and dumping a variety of items. Many vehicles of this nature contain a relatively flat bed used to contain the articles in transit and a pivoting mechanism for slidably removing the articles from the bed. Such vehicles typically have all sets of wheels coupled to a vehicle chassis.
Various mechanisms have been employed to transfer cumbersome cargo from the transport vehicle. Manual unloading has been used. However, multitudes of pivoting mechanisms have been exploited to achieve the desired dumping. Placement of the pivot and the size of the dumping vehicle vary considerably throughout the prior art. Larger vehicles employ pneumatic cylinders and hydraulics to pivot the bed and allow for dumping of the articles transported.
Dumping carts and hinging trailers are known, including those of the following patents: U.S. Pat. No. 5,544,944 to Keech; U.S. Pat. No. 6,290,301 to Bockman; U.S. Pat. No. 3,833,263 to Jackson; U.S. Pat. No. 4,711,499 to Fortin; U.S. Pat. No. 4,889,390 to Campbell; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,395,163 to Mandell et al. The desirable elements of the present invention are neither taught nor disclosed in the prior art. The present invention is therefore a useful improvement upon the prior art of record.